As many of you know, last weekend I was in Saskatoon at the parish of Holy Resurrection. The wonder is that what I witnessed and participated in, was that of the unity and life of our Church.
The very fact that we were celebrating the 50th anniversary of Holy Resurrection, a community that had very humble beginnings (not unlike many other communities in our Archdiocese, including our own), and that we were present to shout “Axios” (worthy) for the ordination of Dn. Johnathan Goosens to the priesthood, and our own (by extension) Subdeacon Edwin (Cam) Hay to the diaconate, was truly amazing enough. Yet, there was something even more amazing than this.
Surrounding our beloved Archbishop Irénée were 11 priests and 9 deacons, (from Manitoba to BC) and about a hundred faithful, all offering our thanksgiving to God for what He has done, and what He is doing. Truly this speaks volumes to the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit in our Church, and the unity of our faith.
Fr. Matthew Francis (Holy Apostles Mission in Chilliwack BC) described the weekend as being something like a “prairie Pascha”! No words could be truer. Indeed at Pascha, there is an unparalleled sense of unity and even a kind of closeness that sees no one as being a stranger, having experienced and participated in the Lord’s joyful and radiant victory over sin and death. This brings to mind the verse from the Paschal canon which beautifully exemplifies this, “let us call brothers (and sisters) even those who hate us, and forgive all by the resurrection, and so let us cry, Christ is risen from the dead, trampling down death by death, and upon those in the tombs bestowing life.”
This victory lavished upon all humanity in the Lord’s saving Pascha, is an event that should permeate every moment of our lives (especially when we celebrate the divine liturgy, a “little Pascha”). For the Lord in His love and work for us, has brought into harmony the discordance of our broken and individual lives, and by effect brings us in harmony with our family, friends, strangers and even enemies. Although I did not know some of the clergy or faithful there: I was as close to them as if they were indeed my own brothers and sisters. Although I might had had disagreements with some of clergy and faithful: we were in perfect accord. Although I hadn’t seen some of the clergy and faithful in years: I was as close to them, as if they lived next door. Truly it was paschal in every way.
Of course we all had to go our own way back to our own lives, homes and parishes. Yet beyond the celebration of an amazing and miraculous 50 years, and the ordination of a priest and deacon, what was experienced, was that which is at the heart of our life as Christians – the proclamation of Gospel and the Lord’s saving work for humanity, and our unity with and in the Lord and His faithful, being members of His Body, the Church – regardless of where we came from, what we do, or even if it wasn’t Pascha.
May the Lord grant us the eyes of faith to see this Paschal unity and life in even the most isolated and lonely movements of our lives; regardless of where we are, or day or season it might be! And may the Lord grant many years to the clergy and faithful of Holy Resurrection in Saskatoon, and to the newly ordained priest Johnathan , and deacon Edwin, and their family’s!
Christ is Risen! Indeed He is Risen!
